These are the words"it is tapped!"with which the Mayor of Munich will open 2014 Oktoberfest tomorrow, September 20. After that first keg starts flowing some 6 million people will pass under the Willkommen before the festival closes on October 5, all sharing the goal of making memories while singing along to "Ein Prosit" in one of the big beer tents.

Therein lies the problem; those tents, large as they are, are pretty tight and tables are booked by advance reservation. Unfortunately for the first-timer or last-minute visitor to Oktoberfest, the pre-booking process is out of the question and bribes are not standard.

Don't give up! There are definite ways to grab a coveted seat inside a tent, (even Hofbräuhaus!), if you try out our three tips:

Oktoberfest in Munich begins September 20 and ends October 5. Looking at the calendar, that's a scant 10 days until the tapping of the first keg! Despite what you may be thinking, it's still not too late to make the decision to finally "do" Oktoberfest this year.

During the festival, the city's Theresienwiese event grounds (or simply "Wiesn" for short) will be teeming with tens of thousands of revelers daily, traveling from beer tent to champagne tent, to schnapps booth. Champagne tent?! Schnapps booth?! Yes, there are special zones and kiosks for all traditional German alcohols, but beer is the chief interest and, as such, the big-name beer tents fill up early in the day.

Though many countries simply tolerate it via unwritten rules and an open mind, Munich has officially legalized public nudity by creating six designated "nudist zones" throughout the city. The zones are mostly centered around or near the Isar River, including two in Englischer Park.

Public nudity has been somewhat of a debate in Munich since statewide laws concerning nude sunbathing expired last fall, but showing skin is nothing new for the Germans. Despite all the hype and attention this news has brought, this writer can testify that nudity was more than tolerated last summer in Munich. On a visit in July, after having a drink at the world's largest beer garden, I took a walk through Englischer Park and saw many people bearing skin. It was absolutely common behavior and nothing that anyone seemed to think twice about. As noted, this was before the laws controlling nude sunbathing expired.

Kicking yourself for not pulling the trigger on a trip to Oktoberfest this year? And the year before and the one before that? You're not alone. But you know what will ensure you don't procrastinate again next year? Free tickets!

Sam Adams is currently running rounds of its National Stein Hoisting Competition, in which contestants have to hold a 1-liter stein of beer straight out in front of them for as long as possible without bending their arm or, worse, spilling the beer. The two hoisters who hold it up the longest (one male and one female) will each win a trip for two to next year’s Oktoberfest in Munich.

Sounds like a fun event, win or lose, sure to spark some energy in the bar. Keep in mind this is a national competition, though, so you’ll compete at your local event, but your time is compared against fellow beer lovers across the country. You can check out the current leaderboard here. So far, the best time for men is 13 minutes, 27 seconds and 9 minutes, 26 seconds for women.

Prost! The 180th Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany has already begun, but you're not too late to get in on the fun. Running from September 21st through October 6th, the celebration of beer and the autumn harvest returns with its 14 Big Tents, an amusement park, and all the sausages under heat lamps you can handle.

Naturally the focus is again on beer, but we're here to say that, yes, we've been to Oktoberfest before and, yes, there's more than just heading for the hops. It's definitely too late to make a table reservation in a major beer tent, but drinking other beverages can still yield you a seat.

Yay! It's that time of the year when we get to talk about Oktoberfest. The barrels will be tapped and the pretzels baked starting tomorrow, Saturday, September 21. Just as last year, we're going to lay some wisdom on ya as seasoned female revelers at Munich's massive party. Heed these, our six things for female travelers to know about Oktoberfest:

1. Beer is not the only authentic drink! In fact, we'd argue there are three other beverages it's "authentic" to drink at Oktoberfest, all of which work out well for those who don't particularly enjoy chugging beer: champagne, schnapps and Radler. Look beyond the ginormous beer tents to the Weinzelt tent, a smaller tent that specializes in Nymphenburger Sektsekt being German champagne. Even smaller and dotted around the Theresienwiese are schnapps booths, where a few Euro goes a long way (towards getting drunkers).

Last night, while on a late run to the nearby 24-hour drugstore, we peeked in to the beer fridge and realizedholy smokesthat they're already stocking both pumpkin and Oktoberfest brews. You know what this means, right? Besides the fact that beer fans have a very limited time left to enjoy the summer varieties and shandies, it means travelers need to finalized Oktoberfest plans ASAP.

What to do:

· Book a flight/train
· Book a hotel, hostel, or Airbnb (yes, even the hostels fill up in advance, as we sadly discovered one year)
· Book a table in a beer tent (there's no bar and you need to be sitting at a table to get served)
· Pack shoes you don't mind throwing away at the end of everything, since the Wies'n often gets muddy and beer spilling during cheers is a part of the fun.

Hopefully you've checked off each item, but if the table reservations are proving particularly difficult there is a way to get around it provided you have some nerve.

The first thing that comes to mind when we think of Munich is, without question, beer. The two are joined at the hip, their lips locked in love thanks to the yearly Oktoberfest celebration that has drawn so many and tattooed the Bavarian city with a feel-good reputation.

As the most famous beer hall in the world, the Hofbrauhaus typically gets the bulk of the love and attention with its location in the city center. It will jump out of every guide book, and ask someone who’s been to Munich for a recommendation, and they most always respond with some form of “well, you’ve got to have a beer at the Hofbrauhaus.”

And we agree, but allow us to recommend a place we liked even better than the Hofbrauhaus, a place just as epic: the largest beer garden in the world. Located in a lovely park, the beer garden at Königlicher Hirschgartenseats 8,000 people (yes, 8,000!) under large chestnut trees, with a live band and a serve-yourself concession of German sausage and brats, pork knuckle, giant soft pretzels, sauerkraut, grilled chicken, etc.

If, by chance, you followed along with our Twitter and Instagram last week during the drama of Hurricane Sandy, you'd know that we rode out the storm with a 3-day delay in Munich, Germany.

During this time we slowly fell deeper and deeper in love with the airport, Franz-Josef Strauss International (MUC). Not only did it have an awesome visitor park (which will get its own story soon), but the two terminals are gorgeous and more than happy to have you drink your fill of beer before departing. In fact, even the coaster napkins make a case for pre-flight boozing, as you can see from ours, pictured above.

Okay people. It's that time of the year when we get to talk about Oktoberfest. The barrels will be tapped and the pretzels baked starting September 22. Just as last year, we're going to lay some wisdom on ya as seasoned female revelers at Munich's massive party. Heed these, our six things for female travelers to know about Oktoberfest:

1. Beer is not the only authentic drink! In fact, we'd argue there are three other beverages it's "authentic" to drink at Oktoberfest, all of which work out well for those who don't particularly enjoy chugging beer: champagne, schnapps and Radler. Look beyond the ginormous beer tents to the Weinzelt tent, a smaller tent that specializes in Nymphenburger Sektsekt being German champagne. Even smaller and dotted around the Theresienwiese are schnapps booths, where a few Euro goes a long way (towards getting drunkers).

Prost! There's one more month until the start of the 179th Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Running from September 22 - October 7, the celebration of beer and the autumn harvest returns with its 14 Big Tents, an amusement park, and all the sausages under heat lamps you can handle.

Naturally the focus will again be beer, but we're here to say that, yes, we've been to Oktoberfest before and, yes, there's more than just heading for the hops. If you haven't made your beer tent table reservations yet, good luck (they're usually booked up as early as February), but drinking other beverages can still yield you a seat.

You're tired, you're cranky, you're on a layover with no access to the swanky airline lounges. What to do? If that layover is at Munich Airport in Germany, there's these things called Napcabs you should be tracking down.

Napcabs are what they sound likeprefab boxes installed in the airport terminal that contain basic beds and work desks. You purchase time in them (between 3-12 hours!) using a touchscreen menu and your credit card. They are very similar to the Yotel and Day Stay concept of quickie, in-terminal capsule rooms, just now minus the restrooms and minus any need to deal with another person. Plus, they being at the not-too-shabby rate of 10 Euro an hour.